Men's Soccer All-MAAC Teams, Awards Announced

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EDISON, N.J. – Iona College senior forward Franklin Castellanos was selected as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year by the league’s head coaches, and headlines the All-MAAC First Team. The All-MAAC teams and major individual awards winner were announced on Thursday, Nov. 12.

Castellanos was the MAAC’s scoring champ with 31 points, with a league leading 13 assists, and was tied for No. 1 with nine goals for the Gaels. Castellanos has been named to the All-MAAC First Team for three consecutive years.

Castellanos is joined on the first team by the Defensive Player of the Year, Matt Jeffery of Monmouth. The 6-4, 200-pound Jeffery helped anchor the Hawks’ defense that had seven shutouts and a 0.83 goals against average, both second in the MAAC.

Borja Angoitia of Quinnipiac was named Goalkeeper of the Year and also earned All-MAAC First Team honors. The 6-2, 185-pound junior netminder led the MAAC with eight shutouts, and was second with a 0.65 goals against average.

Rider’s Christian Flath was named Rookie of the Year. The 5-11, 166-pound midfielder led Rider in scoring with 20 points, tied for third in the MAAC. Flath scored six goals, tied for seventh in the MAAC, and had eight assists, tied for second. Flath was also named the All-MAAC First Team.

The MAAC’s Anaconda Sports Coach of the Year is Jorden Scott of Manhattan. Scott is in his first year as head coach of the Jaspers after serving as an assistant for three seasons. He guided the Jaspers to a 5-3-2 record in Conference play, and to a berth in the MAAC Men’s Soccer Championship as the fourth seed, only the fifth time that Manhattan has qualified for the event when it has been held in a four-team format.

Joining Jeffery as backs on the All-MAAC First Team are Tobias Esche of Quinnipiac, Emmanuel Ageymang of Monmouth and Nick Garcia of Niagara. First team All-MAAC midfielders, in addition to Flath, include Joseph Schmid of Monmouth, Simon Hinde of Quinnipiac, and James Beeston of Siena. Joining Castellanos as All-MAAC First Team forwards are Reco McLaren of Fairfield and Ignacio Maganto of Iona. Angoitia rounds out the All-MAAC first team in goal.

The All-MAAC Second Team backs are Falko Friedrichs of Siena, Sonmi Halliday of Rider and Tommy Martin of Iona. All-MAAC Second Team midfielders include Tommy Amos of Manhattan, Michael Holzer of Iona and Sam Nicol of Quinnipiac.The All-MAAC Second Team forwards are Asani Samuels of Canisius, Sammy Adeji of Iona, Daniel Laguna Kennedy of Manhattan, and Machel Baker of Quinnipiac. The All-MAAC Second Team goalkeeper is Eric Klenofsky of Monmouth.

The MAAC’s All-Rookie team includes Tobias Esche of Quinnipiac, Danilo Markovic of Siena, Warren Holmes of Rider, Thomas Teupen of Canisius and Andrew Melitsanopoulos of Manhattan. Midfielders on the All-Rookie team are Flath of Rider, Colin Stripling of Monmouth, and James Doig of Quinnipiac. Forwards on the All-Rookie team include Nick Sifrin of Saint Peter’s, Daniel Laguna Kennedy of Manhattan, and Dave Nigro of Monmouth. The All-Rookie team goalkeeper is Eric Klenofsky of Monmouth.